Phosphate solubilizing bacteria optimize wheat yield in mineral phosphorus applied alkaline soil

Abstract Limited availability of phosphorus (P) in agricultural soils is a major cause of poor growth and yield of crops throughout the world. Optimization of crops productivity can be achieved by increasing the bioavailability of P via phosphate solubilizing bacteria (PSB), however, their effectiveness may vary with changing agro-climatic conditions That’s why current experiment was conducted to evaluate the potential of phosphate solubilizing bacteria (with PSB and without PSB) in improving growth and yield of wheat under different P levels (0, 25, 50, and 100 % of recommended P). The PSB with 100% recommended P significantly enhanced wheat tillers m-2, grains spike-1, grains and biological yield compared to the rest of the treatment’s combination. A significant improvement in 100 grains weight and rate of photosynthesis also validated the efficacious functioning of PSB and full recommended P. Furthermore, PSB were effective in optimizing wheat yield attributes at respective P level compared to Without PSB. Our findings imply that, PSB application along with 100% recommended P as inorganic phosphorus has potential to enhance wheat growth and yield over sole application of P fertilizers or PSB.